We attended the annual 4th of July spectacular at the stadium of Brigham Young University. This year's draw was the popular Utah Native and American Idol favorite, David Archuletta. Boy has his voice gotten deep! The headliner was the current County Music Entertainer of the Year, Brad Paisley. He was totally OSM!!
Fortunately, I had plenty of time to prepare for the show. Days ahead of time, I would lie around picturing myself entering the stadium, finding my seat, and enjoying all the different sights. Unfortunately, I had plenty of time to work myself up over entering the stadium, finding my seat, and being bombarded by all the sights and sounds!
The day of, Tigger asked me if I was excited to go to the Stadium of Fire. My response? "ummm, I try not to think about going to the Stadium of Fire."
In the half hour before we readied ourselves to leave, I did additional positive enforcements about how much fun this was going to be and how exciting it would be to see Brad Paisley in concert. How cool is it that I was going to be attending with my OSM One, a Tigger and her Actor, a Ladybug and her Bliss, in addition to Bliss' mom and brother. Now that is a lot of support, right? Of course! Nothing can go wrong and nothing will go wrong! And if it does, well, what if? And then what? (yes, I could hear Dr. Dan's wise voice asking those questions as I changed my clothes and curled my hair.)
We had to park several blocks away from the stadium with advanced planning of how we would make a quick escape afterward. The Osm One, unfortunately, has a longer stride than I do, so as we walk toward the stadium, I begin to feel winded. Out of breathe. Can't breathe. Choking. So we slowed down a bit. There were people everywhere! Faces with eyes and eyeglasses, hats and big hair. Long hair, short hair, no hair!! Arms, legs, kids, babies, teensm ugly people, beautiful people! Crying people, screaming people, somber people. They were everywhere!! Moving!! Like a big insect with multiple sections and appendages. Impossible to smack it and even more impossible to avoid it. So we continued. Then we saw the lines....
Don't talk to me, just follow me. I can do this. Lines are no problem, right? We join the crowd and travel as a whole, moving toward the opening that would allow us admittance to the glorious atmosphere of the stadium. The opening became more and more narrow, until we were squeezed past the employee who stole my water. Danger! Danger! My water may hurt you!!
Once we enter the stadium, the insects became confused and wandered in multiple directions. Color everywhere, noise, arms, legs and FACES!! The OSM One helps lead me through the confusion and onto the ramp which will lead us onward and upward toward the bench we will occupy during our outing. By now I am sweating profusely, my hair is matted to my head, my heart is pounding to the beat of all those feet chasing me up the ramp. I feel like passing out. I ask the OSM One to get me an iced treat. And I shamelessly move forward, through the portal to an open sky. Ladybug waves to us so we know how high we need to climb. It was 25 miles away. The stadium became quiet. All eyes were watching as I began the slow climb into the eternities. I occassionally paused to catch my breathe and allowed the moving monstrosity of a stadium to align with my intentions. It took a while. But I reached my seat. Now I feel like vomiting. Nope, just give me a minute and I will be fine. OK, it took more than a minute. In fact it took a very long time. OK. It never really went away, but I remained.
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Why would I associate 'Stadium of Fire' with danger, danger, danger? Well, a Stadium filled with 50,000 plus spectators and flaming torches doesn't exactly calm my imagination. In fact, the Stadium of Fire always starts with parchute jumpers landing in the stadium. What kind of idiot jumps out of a plane, hoping to land in a standing run in the middle of a football stadium. That is 100 yards people!! From 2-3,000 feet up!! Oh they were amazing! The first two were textbook. The third, biffed a bit and landed on his butt (maybe a little trauma to the tailbone but alive!) The fourth jumper, carrying the US flag, hit a barrier and a cameraman and crashed onto the 30 yard line. People jumped to their feet and a crowd rushed to the jumper on the field. I sat down in my seat. I just watched someone jump to their death, and he receives a standing ovation? Oh, the crowd that rushed to his side, were concerned about the flag being dragged on the ground. They lifted it and with all in their military formals, carried the flag from the field in the most dignified manner. Suddenly there is a thunderous noise as the Airforce F-15 squadron roared over the stadium. I watched as the crowd yelled, clapped, and cheered. But there was no noise other than the rushing of the jets. Then you add a bunch of girls in short skirts dancing away in the infield with lights on their gloves and pom-poms of patriotic brights. They were everywhere, jumping, wiggling, waving, marching!!! And the crowd around me matched their enthusiasm and beat. Beach balls!! Beach balls are now being bounced around the crowd!! They are rolling throughout the crowd, moving up and down the bleachers while the crowd moved in and out with the music and the dancing. I remained in my seat. As the sun finally starts to set, the vivid colors and movements in the crowd start to diminish and I am better able to focus on the entertainment.
LOVED THE TALENT SHOW, LOVED DAVID ARCHULETTA, LOVED BRAD PAISLEY!!! IT WAS OSM!!! AND THEN THEY SET THE STADIUM ON FIRE!! AND THE BOOMS AND BAMS WOULD COLLIDE WITH MY EGO INSISTING THAT I REMAIN IN MY SEAT!
By 11:30 that evening, the OSM One had led me back to the safety of my own home and bedroom. I am keyed up and jittery, but I will not be using help. I did it!! I survived the STADIUM ON FIRE!! The next morning, sitting on my sofa, safely tucked away in my home, the doorbell rings. I nearly jumped off the couch!!! Yea. It takes a while for the adrenaline to wear off.
In the half hour before we readied ourselves to leave, I did additional positive enforcements about how much fun this was going to be and how exciting it would be to see Brad Paisley in concert. How cool is it that I was going to be attending with my OSM One, a Tigger and her Actor, a Ladybug and her Bliss, in addition to Bliss' mom and brother. Now that is a lot of support, right? Of course! Nothing can go wrong and nothing will go wrong! And if it does, well, what if? And then what? (yes, I could hear Dr. Dan's wise voice asking those questions as I changed my clothes and curled my hair.)
We had to park several blocks away from the stadium with advanced planning of how we would make a quick escape afterward. The Osm One, unfortunately, has a longer stride than I do, so as we walk toward the stadium, I begin to feel winded. Out of breathe. Can't breathe. Choking. So we slowed down a bit. There were people everywhere! Faces with eyes and eyeglasses, hats and big hair. Long hair, short hair, no hair!! Arms, legs, kids, babies, teensm ugly people, beautiful people! Crying people, screaming people, somber people. They were everywhere!! Moving!! Like a big insect with multiple sections and appendages. Impossible to smack it and even more impossible to avoid it. So we continued. Then we saw the lines....
Don't talk to me, just follow me. I can do this. Lines are no problem, right? We join the crowd and travel as a whole, moving toward the opening that would allow us admittance to the glorious atmosphere of the stadium. The opening became more and more narrow, until we were squeezed past the employee who stole my water. Danger! Danger! My water may hurt you!!
Once we enter the stadium, the insects became confused and wandered in multiple directions. Color everywhere, noise, arms, legs and FACES!! The OSM One helps lead me through the confusion and onto the ramp which will lead us onward and upward toward the bench we will occupy during our outing. By now I am sweating profusely, my hair is matted to my head, my heart is pounding to the beat of all those feet chasing me up the ramp. I feel like passing out. I ask the OSM One to get me an iced treat. And I shamelessly move forward, through the portal to an open sky. Ladybug waves to us so we know how high we need to climb. It was 25 miles away. The stadium became quiet. All eyes were watching as I began the slow climb into the eternities. I occassionally paused to catch my breathe and allowed the moving monstrosity of a stadium to align with my intentions. It took a while. But I reached my seat. Now I feel like vomiting. Nope, just give me a minute and I will be fine. OK, it took more than a minute. In fact it took a very long time. OK. It never really went away, but I remained.
Why would I associate 'Stadium of Fire' with danger, danger, danger? Well, a Stadium filled with 50,000 plus spectators and flaming torches doesn't exactly calm my imagination. In fact, the Stadium of Fire always starts with parchute jumpers landing in the stadium. What kind of idiot jumps out of a plane, hoping to land in a standing run in the middle of a football stadium. That is 100 yards people!! From 2-3,000 feet up!! Oh they were amazing! The first two were textbook. The third, biffed a bit and landed on his butt (maybe a little trauma to the tailbone but alive!) The fourth jumper, carrying the US flag, hit a barrier and a cameraman and crashed onto the 30 yard line. People jumped to their feet and a crowd rushed to the jumper on the field. I sat down in my seat. I just watched someone jump to their death, and he receives a standing ovation? Oh, the crowd that rushed to his side, were concerned about the flag being dragged on the ground. They lifted it and with all in their military formals, carried the flag from the field in the most dignified manner. Suddenly there is a thunderous noise as the Airforce F-15 squadron roared over the stadium. I watched as the crowd yelled, clapped, and cheered. But there was no noise other than the rushing of the jets. Then you add a bunch of girls in short skirts dancing away in the infield with lights on their gloves and pom-poms of patriotic brights. They were everywhere, jumping, wiggling, waving, marching!!! And the crowd around me matched their enthusiasm and beat. Beach balls!! Beach balls are now being bounced around the crowd!! They are rolling throughout the crowd, moving up and down the bleachers while the crowd moved in and out with the music and the dancing. I remained in my seat. As the sun finally starts to set, the vivid colors and movements in the crowd start to diminish and I am better able to focus on the entertainment.
LOVED THE TALENT SHOW, LOVED DAVID ARCHULETTA, LOVED BRAD PAISLEY!!! IT WAS OSM!!! AND THEN THEY SET THE STADIUM ON FIRE!! AND THE BOOMS AND BAMS WOULD COLLIDE WITH MY EGO INSISTING THAT I REMAIN IN MY SEAT!
By 11:30 that evening, the OSM One had led me back to the safety of my own home and bedroom. I am keyed up and jittery, but I will not be using help. I did it!! I survived the STADIUM ON FIRE!! The next morning, sitting on my sofa, safely tucked away in my home, the doorbell rings. I nearly jumped off the couch!!! Yea. It takes a while for the adrenaline to wear off.
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